Hidden Key
by Johnny Devlyn
Summary: One-shot inspired by the movie The Librarian. Fluff and awkward situations abound.


**The relevant scene from The Librarian; Curse of the Judas Chalice, that might be helpful to know in order to understand the inspiration for this little story:**

**Simone (Stana) begins pulling up the hem of her skirt, and Flynn laughs awkwardly. "Wow, little fast, eh? Maybe we should put on a little music, open some wine first... take a key from your thigh..." he adds when he notices that Simone is untying a key hidden in the lace of her thigh-high stockings.**

**"It's okay, Librarian. You can drop ze act," she says, approaching him and putting her hand on his cheek. Then she turns and walks to the cabinets behind them. "You were very convincing as ze hapless lozer by ze way."**

**Sadly, that little excerpt was done entirely by memory (so I apologize for any inaccuracies.) I have seen that movie so many times, I can quote most of the dialogue. Like I said, sad. But it was a great movie! Stana is fantastic! And she sings! Okay… moving on…**

**On to the fanfic, the how and why of the plot doesn't really matter, I just needed them in a certain situation for this story to work. No more Josh, set sometime in the future, who knows when. As you can tell, the plot is the all important thing here, and the fluff is secondary :-D (I was being sarcastic). **

They were dressed for dinner, not for work. So when they ended up at a scene, they were both dressed casually, in the formal clothes they had chosen to wear for- separate- dinner dates.

Kate had gone into the suspect's house with only Castle as backup, but their plan had failed and now the pair was locked in a small attic room, a bed in one corner, table in another, boards on the windows, slanted ceilings and two chairs, upon which Beckett and Castle were currently hand cuffed.

"You okay, Castle?" Kate eventually asked after waking, taking stock of their situation and finding Castle awake now as well.

"Yeah, I'm okay. You?" he replied, a little groggy, but waking quickly upon noticing the cuffs as well as their surroundings.

"Fine. A little humiliated, but physically, I'm okay."

"There was no way you could have known that he'd have knock-out gas," Castle argued in her defense.

"If I were a better cop-"

"Stop. Just stop. You are the _best_. _No _cop would be expecting _this_ situation." He was a little pleased when she nodded, but she said nothing else. So Rick began rambling. "If only we could get out of these cuffs. I keep a key in my wallet, but apparently they took it because I don't feel it in my back pocket. If we could get out though, we could probably pull the boards off that window over there."

Rick kept rambling, but Kate stopped listening. She had stuck on his mention of a key; she had one. But there was no way for her to get to it with her hands cuffed behind her back. Castle was right, they needed a key. They'd have a higher chance for survival if they _were_ able to get themselves out of their cuffs. But did she really want Castle _there_, close enough to her to get her key?

When his rambling took on a decidedly frantic note, Kate made her decision, though she didn't like it any.

"Castle," she said, cutting him off mid-sentence. "I need your help."

"Yeah, we both need help. Did you not listen to _anything_ I was saying?" He said, just short of whining.

She rolled her eyes. "I actually have a solution to our little dilemma, but I need your help to enact it."

"Okay," he said, confused but intrigued by how vague she was being. "What do you need me to do?"

"I'll tell you, however..." she began hesitantly, then her voice turned stern, "First, you are going to promise me you will not make jokes, you will make this as painless as possible and what I'm about to ask you to do is never to leave this room. Do you understand?"

"Sure," he said, still confused.

"Promise me, Castle," she insisted vehemently.

Instead of doing as she asked and giving her his promise, he gave her a droll look and argued, "A: you know I never take anything seriously, so I can't promise you I won't make jokes, even if I did want to. I can tell you that I'll give it my best effort though. B: I'll do whatever I can to avoid hurting you, but if you're going to ask me to try breaking you out of the cuffs, one or both of us _will_ get hurt. Plus, I don't really think that's possible. And C: I will keep this to myself as best I can, but my books are inspired by real life so if this inspires me, I make no guarantees it won't end up in my next book."

Kate scoffed and grumbled, "Real life my left foot. Your stories are based entirely on your overactive imagination," she clarified just to prove her point. Before Rick could protest, she decided, "But that's probably the best I'll get out of you by way of a promise, so... Fine," she sighed. "Let's get us out of these cuffs," she concluded unhappily.

"They won't break," Rick informed her. "Not without breaking us first."

"We're not going to try to break them," she told him, her tone implying she thought he was stupid for even suggesting it.

"Are you going to conjure a key out of thin air?" he asked sarcastically.

"No."

"The only way out of these cuffs is with a key. And neither of us has one so..." Rick shrugged, feeling it unnecessary for him to complete the thought because they both knew the 'so': they were stuck.

"But one of us does have a key," she insisted mysteriously.

"I told you, the guy took my wallet. Wow, you really _weren't_ listening to me, were you?"

"I listen when you actually have something to say," she argued, defending herself. Then she smirked and concluded, "So no, I usually _don't _listen to you, Castle. But you're not the only one who keeps a spare key on their person at all times."

"You never know when you might need it, right?" he asked, giving her a sexy smirk. "But I don't see your purse, so he must have taken that too."

"He did," she agreed.

"Then we _don't_ have a key," he concluded definitively.

"I said: I keep a spare key '_on my person_' at all times."

"What...?" Castle's gaze wandered the length of her body from head to toe, looking for a bump or crease in the skin tight dress that might have been a key. And even though he saw nothing to indicate its presence, he still said, "Ooooh..."

"I need to you get it for me, Castle," Kate finally admitted, her cheeks heating in an embarrassed blush. She glowered at him when she noticed his wide-eyed stare was stuck on her cleavage. "Not _there_," she snapped. His eyes glanced down and again, Kate had to snap, "Stop trying to guess where the key is, Castle! You're not right and you're making me uncomfortable."

"Sorry," he mumbled, shifting his gaze back up to her face. He was quickly becoming uncomfortable too, though definitely not in the same way as Kate.

"Why would anyone hide a hand cuff key in their panties, anyway, Castle?" She asked as a means of procrastinating, because she knew he'd come up with random, bizarre and 'out there' stories that were each highly unlikely. And he didn't disappoint.

When he was done spewing theories, Kate sighed. _Time to get to work_, she told herself resignedly.

She stood up and took small handfuls of skirt into her hands. Shimmying her hips a little, Kate kept bunching material and slowly her skirt rode higher and higher, exposing more and more of her slim legs. Kate wanted to laugh at the way Castle's eyes were about to bug out of his head, but a glance down to his lap told her he probably wouldn't enjoy being laughed at just then. So she continued to wiggle, and to tug on the back of her skirt, until finally- _finally_- the lacy top edge of her thigh-highs began to come into view. She stopped hiking her tight skirt higher when some skin began to peek from over the lace. She took a step toward Castle's side and said, "There's a handcuff key tied to the lace of the garter. I need you to get it."

Rick tilted his head back, staring up at her face in shock and not trusting himself to look at her legs for long; he might start drooling. "Huh?" He finally managed.

"The key, Rick. Do you see it?"

Rick glanced down, saw a small flash of silver tied into the black silk ribbon, and he nodded stupidly. The black lace contrasted vividly with the pale white color of her thigh and Rick had to look away quickly; the apex of her thighs was only centimeters away from that key. He looked back up at her face.

"Good. I need you to stand up and turn around, and I'll try to put the laces in your hand so you can untie them and get the key. Okay?" She felt like she was talking to a child, but the way he was staring up at her so blankly, stunned into silence, was making her decidedly uncomfortable. So she was lashing out in the only way she could; by talking to Castle like he was a stupid child. He still hadn't replied though, so she prompted impatiently, "You need to stand up now, Castle."

But Rick shook his head. Had he been thinking straight- or at all- he might have come up with at least three very valid reasons why the plan wouldn't work Kate's way- not the least of which was the way he'd embarrass himself if he tried to stand up just then, in his current, highly aroused state. But he wasn't thinking. He was shaking his head 'no,' and then he was sliding off his chair, kneeling on the hard ground in front of her.

"Castle-" Kate began in protest, but before she could say anything else, he leaned forward, took one black ribbon between his teeth and pulled. The little bow's loop slid easily, but the key was not only tied in place, it was also tucked into the lace around her thigh to keep it from moving about as she walked. So, leaning close to her thigh again, Rick bit down on the lace and his teeth and his lips slid against the skin of her thigh as he did.

Kate tried to hide her shiver of excitement at the feel of his mouth on her thigh- so close to her... She shivered again and was not able to hide it this time, nor the chill bumps that broke out over her skin.

Castle meanwhile kept his mouth on the lace probably more than was strictly necessary, but having her shivering under the touch of his mouth encouraged him to be just a little bold. The very tip of the key remained tucked into the lace; Rick didn't want it to fall to the dirty floor where he'd have to use his mouth to retrieve it, so it stayed in the lace, but just barely. Rick used his tongue to gather the key into his mouth and touch the flesh of her thigh in the process. Her skin was salty and warm, and he closed his eyes trying to create an eidetic picture and burn the sight and taste of Kate's thigh into his memory. He slowly pulled the key away, and mourned the loss of her warm skin on his lips. He had no idea if or when he'd ever get the opportunity to taste her like that again.

When he finally relinquished the ties of her garter, minus the key of course, Kate turned her back to him and held out her hand for the key.

The look on his face as he'd worked on the lace, had been... Well, it was enough that Kate felt she desperately needed a glass of ice water. Or a cold shower. Either one would suit. And though she felt a little better now that she couldn't see his face, she could still picture it. He probably still looked quite the same as he had seconds ago, as she realized she'd just presented him with the perfect, close up opportunity to check out her ass.

The back of her skirt had been pulled higher than the front, Castle noticed. Material was bunched up right under the delicious curve of her backside. Lace and skin both visible...

Suddenly, Kate's fingers began waving at him impatiently, requesting the key.

So Rick put the key under his tongue, leaned forward and took the first digit into his mouth. When he sucked gently, she gasped. He caressed her finger with his tongue and slowly allowed it to withdraw from his mouth. But if Kate had thought he was going to let her go then, she was mistaken. Instead, Rick took the first two fingers of her hand into his mouth and sucked again. Her breathing sped up in excitement and the 'little' monster in his pants jerked in response to the sounds she made. But he didn't think he could take any more of the torture, so he guided the key with his tongue between her fingertips and it took her a second before Kate caught on to what he was trying to do.

Kate pulled the key from his mouth and both made echoing sighs of relief when all contact between them was broken. Her backside really was a spectacular view, but he still sighed in relief- again- when it was taken away.

Kate turned back to face him as she guided the key to where she thought it went. After struggling to get the little key in its little hole, she huffed a frustrated breath.

Meanwhile, Castle awkwardly made his way up from the floor and back into his chair. He wouldn't be able to stand for a while, unless he wanted to show Kate just how much their nearness had affected him. But the way her eyes kept flashing to his lap as she worked on the cuffs behind her back made Castle think she already knew. He _was_ a little surprised by how frequently she glanced at his lap and how she refused to meet his eyes, so by the time she huffed an irritated breath, Castle was smirking at her.

"Kate?" he said and waited for her to meet his gaze.

She did, reluctantly, her cheeks stained bright pink and she snapped- not angry, just embarrassed- "What?"

"Turn around," he ordered her, still smirking.

"Why, so you can stare at my ass some more?" she snapped again.

"Partly," he admitted unabashedly. "But mostly so I can help you guide that key into the hole. Unless you enjoy bashing your head against walls. Metaphorically speaking," he added shrugging.

Kate continued to glare at him until finally, she turned around.

"Closer," he ordered her again. "I can't see the cuffs from here."

Kate backed up several inches, slow and hesitant, but she wanted those cuffs off more than she wanted to hold on to her modesty.

But to make the situation that much worse, Castle just had to inform her, "You do have a fantastic ass, by the way." Kate spun a half turn to glare down at him, but Castle simply smiled, still staring at her back side. "It looks great from this angle too."

"Castle!" she snapped, her tone evidence of how short her patience was getting. "Just help me out of these damned hand cuffs so I can smack you."

"Ooo," he teased. "Bondage _and_ whipping. It's my lucky day."

Kate didn't even deign to reply to _that_ nonsense. She just turned her back to him again and resumed fiddling with the cuffs.

"Up a little," he instructed, offering hints when he could. "Toward me some. Now back toward you. Up a little more..."

Kate laughed out loud when the key finally slid into the lock; a gentle turn and her wrist was free. In her excitement, still laughing, she spun and threw her arms around Castle's neck. She even kissed his cheek before she realized how inappropriate that was. She pulled away to study Rick's face, but he was laughing too, pleased by her exuberance.

"My turn!" he prompted and when Kate relinquished her hold on him, he turned in his chair, presenting his back.

"Hmm..." Kate murmured, hesitating. She took her time unlocking the second cuff on her own hands and it was long enough that he turned back to glare up at her. "Maybe I should let you stay like that-"

"Why?" He cut her off, teasing her. "So you can have your wicked way with me?" Was it her imagination, or did he sound a little hopeful?

"No!" she snapped in reply. "You're much less annoying when you're not _touching_ everything."

Castle glared up at her, considering. "Uncuff me, Kate," he commanded and then offered his threat. "Or I'll spend the next hour- or more- describing in _great_. _Detail_. Every single part of your enticing body that I'd _like_ to touch. And _why_."

She blanched but looked down her nose at him anyway. "Maybe I'll gag you," she threatened in turn.

"With what?" he countered. "Your stocking?" His gaze moved down to where all of her thigh high stockings were still showing. His voice was much deeper when he added, bluffing, "You have no idea how much I'd enjoy that, Kate."

Kate hurried to pull on the hem of her skirt, covering some of her legs, but the image was forever imprinted in Rick's memory. The fact that Kate wore thigh highs instead of the usual, unsexy waist high stockings just might end up in his next book, Rick decided. Or did he want to keep _that_ particular memory just for himself?

"Stop thinking about my legs, Castle!" Kate snapped, interrupting his reverie. "Or I _won't_ uncuff you."

"Fine, what should I think about instead?" He asked, smiling, unashamed of being caught, as he turned his back to her once more and waited for Kate to unlock the handcuffs.

Kate was a bit surprised he'd admitted so easily that he _was_ thinking about her legs, though she also realized it was totally in character for him. It took her a second before she was able to come up with an alternative. "Help me think of a way out of here," she finally suggested.

"Window," he immediately offered. When his hands were free, he held them in front of him, rubbing his achy wrists and trying to obstruct some of the view of his lap. "Go check the boards on the window."

Kate stood over him, and took to smirking down at him. "Aren't you going to help me?" She teased him. When he looked up at her, glaring, she continued, "What's the matter, Ricky? Can't you stand up?"

He simply continued to glare up at her for a moment until finally, he stood. Her gaze remained locked on his eyes until they were on a level with hers- afraid that if she moved them away, even a fraction, she'd glance down- and he stepped closer to her, invading her personal space.

They'd been close like this before. They had conducted countless conversations in the past with only inches of space separating their bodies, but she'd been okay with the proximity then. Somehow, _this_ time was different, _this_ proximity was awkward and slightly uncomfortable for her. Could it be the fact that she knew, if she would only look down right now, she'd see physical evidence of something Rick had only ever joked about in the past: how much he wanted her.

Rick's voice was low when he finally informed her, "I have _nothing_ to be ashamed about, sweetheart. I just thought it would be uncomfortable for you if you knew how much I wanted you right now. But, since you pushed..." Rick trailed off and shrugged, studying her face.

Kate swallowed hard, blushing again, and wondered what the hell had possessed her to tease him like that? _She _was the one who had made an issue out of something he'd been trying to hide for her benefit. And now it was out there in the open, with no way for either of them to pretend or hide anymore.

Rick's hand lifted to brush aside the hair over her forehead, ending by tucking some of the loose strands behind her ear. He studied her look tonight, her makeup smokier than she wore it at work, and her hair swept up, off her bare shoulders. There was no way he could keep his assessment to himself. So, as his thumb trailed down her jaw line, to her chin, her told her, "You look gorgeous tonight." He smiled when she blushed yet again and then he began removing his jacket as he added, "BUt if we don't cover your beautiful body, the big problem in my pants that's making you blush so furiously won't ever go away." Rick moved his arms around her then, careful not to touch her more than strictly necessary and draped his jacket around her shoulders. His gaze shifted down, between their bodies to take one last long look at her, appreciating the view down the front of her dress and then he sighed, before taking the lapels of his coat and closing them over her body. Then, on impulse, he pulled her closer by the lapels of his jacket, and leaned in to press a quick, ardent kiss to her neck, just below her ear. And then he was gone, releasing his hold on the coat and turning away from her to the boarded window, walking away from temptation.

Trying desperately now to get his mind on something else- and _off_ of Kate's sexy body- he began searching along the boards for any finger hold he could use to pry them away from the window. He finally found a tiny gap and as he began wedging his fingertips into place, Kate appeared beside him to help. She was still wearing his coat and even though the oversized thing looked less than flattering on her, the sight of her wearing his clothes was almost as distracting as the view he'd had earlier of her stockings. But Rick refused to let himself dwell on that, jamming his fingers painfully between the boards as a means to distract himself.

Several silent, determined minutes later, Rick finally spoke. "I'm sorry."

Kate glanced over at him, confused. "Just keep pulling, I think it's about to come loose," she encouraged, misinterpreting the apology.

"I mean- I'm sorry for kissing you like that. I shouldn't have." He said, speaking to the boards that refused to budge. As he continued to pull though, he thought his side was just barely starting to loosen, so he began pulling harder.

"Oh, it's okay," She assured, then blushed even as she continued the work on her side of the board. She added more sternly, "I mean, don't do it again, but it was okay. I thought it was kind of sweet."

They had just made a larger gap between the boards so Castle adjusted his grip, and with one hard pull, he wrenched the board from the window, letting the whole thing crash to the floor as he turned to glare at Kate.

"Sweet?" he asked incredulously, his breath coming faster after the exertion. "What part of me nearly losing control was _sweet_?"

Kate kept her eyes on the window, grabbing on to the next board to pull, but she was grinning. "The part where I could tell how much you'd rather push me onto that bed over there and explore the rest of my thigh with your mouth, but you controlled yourself anyway, just for me. Yes, I found that sweet."

Whatever control Rick had managed to exert over his wayward body left him again as the blood drained from his face and rushed farther south, a place it was apparently very happy to be.

When Kate pulled the second board loose (which was much easier to do with the better hand hold presented by the absence of the first board) she finally glanced to Rick's face. When she noted his shocked expression and general lack of color, she laughed.

But Rick frowned. "You're _mean_," he concluded angrily. "You're just... cruel." Kate turned to him, surprised by his serious tone and finally noted his un-laughing expression. "You've teased me in the past, and at the time, I thought it was funny. Hell, it was kinda hot. But this time... you can actually _see_ the effect you have on me and yet you still tease me. That's just... _mean_."

Kate opened her mouth to respond, but no sound came out and to her horror, tears began to well up in her eyes. Rick watched for a moment as she closed her mouth and swallowed hard in an attempt to control the tears.

Rick turned back to the window, sighing and said quietly, "Let's just get out of here." He worked quickly and removed the last two boards from the window revealing black skies, street lights and an otherwise pleasant looking neighborhood street. They were a long way from the city- they must have been transported after they'd been rendered unconscious. No one would know to look for them here.

But at the moment, something much more important was troubling Rick. _Why did I talk to her like that?_ He asked himself savagely. If he'd only kept his mouth shut, or even started a flirty/suggestive conversation with her, me might have actually persuaded her into the bed over there and done what she'd accused him of wanting to do. But no; he snapped at her out of frustration and yes, even embarrassment and now she was crying.

They both stared out the window for a long moment and then, in tandem, they each sighed and said, "I'm sorry."

Surprised, they finally turned to face each other and again they both said at the same time, "What are _you_ sorry for?"

Each smiled then and they had no way of knowing they were _thinking_ the same thing too; they were always so in sync, always on the same page and he/she loved it.

"I'm sorry for snapping at you," Castle began quickly.

"No, I shouldn't tease you like that. You were right-"

"As much as I love hearing you say I was right, I still had no right to talk to you that way. I'm sorry, Kate."

Smiling, she told him, "We're closer than that, Castle. We're... partners. And we're friends. You're allowed to call me on my bullshit." When he smiled too, Kate got serious again. "I'm sorry too, Castle. For teasing you. For making an uncomfortable situation for you into a joke. For laughing at you. It _was_ mean and I'm sorry."

Rick smiled and tried to make a joke, to let her know he had no hard feelings. (Hard _body parts_ on the other hand... well, that was another story.) "It was pretty hot, though."

Kate smiled too, and then they were silent. She intuitively knew what he wanted in that moment, as he stood studying her. She'd seen him with his family and friends often enough to know he was an affectionate person. But she also knew he wasn't going to ask. So Kate stepped closer to him, slid her arms around his ribs and hugged him, turning her head to rest on his shoulder.

After a surprised pause, Rick quickly wrapped his arms around her shoulders and Kate shivered when she felt his lips pressed to the bare skin of her neck. Rick had to force his mouth away from her skin and he convulsively held her tighter. "As much as I _love_ this, it's not really helping."

Kate pulled away to look at his too-blue eyes and Rick saw an internal struggle going on behind her gaze. Finally, she swallowed hard and seemed to come to a decision half a second before she spoke quietly. "Then I don't suppose this would help much, either," she said and then leaned in slowly to kiss him.

The close-mouthed kiss was unbearably sweet and Castle wanted to crush her close and never let her go. He settled for moving one hand to the back of her neck and applying the slightest pressure as she tilted her head and began moving her lips over his. He parted his lips for her and Kate's tongue came out to touch is lower lip, teasing his own tongue to come out and play.

But Rick couldn't handle much more of his. If he wasn't allowed to touch her the way he'd wanted to for every day of the few years he'd known her, then he needed some space. Like, _now_. His already feverish body easily responded, and if she pressed any closer, there would be no hiding the fact that he was ready for her- hell, he was burning for her.

Dragging a ragged breath through his nose, he pulled away from the kiss before Kate could deepen it any further. He tried to explain to her, but his words came out muddled. "This is... Hot Kiss... I can't... Too much..." He began shaking his head as a little smile began teasing the corners of Kate's mouth. "What?" He asked when he noted her smile of pure feminine satisfaction.

"I've rendered a bestselling author incapable of stringing together three words into even the simplest sentence," She crowed, and then smirked at him. "I have to admit, it's more than a little gratifying to know that I affect you so strongly. Or are you just that easy?"

"Yes and no," he answered. When she frowned in question, Castle clarified, "I am that easy, but only for you. The more I get to know you, the more I find myself... affected by you. I have yet to meet any one else that gets to me the way you do, Kate."

"Hmm," she murmured with a small smile. "I like that."

Rick rolled his eyes, a small smile pulling at the corners of his mouth. It would just figure that she was proud of herself for getting under Castle's skin for once- as opposed to the vice versa.

As they studied each other, drifting closer to each other again, Castle whispered, "You shouldn't kiss me anymore."

"Hmm, why not?" She whispered back.

"If you do, I won't be held responsible for my actions." Despite the warning, neither pulled away, just continued drawing slowly closer and closer.

"I think I'll take my chances," Kate decided, her lips now millimeters from Rick's mouth.

"I warned you," He concluded, his lips now moving against hers as he spoke. And Kate finally closed her mouth over his.

What started out sweet and gentle quickly escalated to hot and consuming. But just when they thought they had lost themselves to the world, that nothing could touch them through the haze of desire enveloping them, the door on the other side of the room started rattling. Someone was obviously having difficulty getting it open.

They broke apart and Caste spun to face the door, pushing Kate's body behind his as if he meant to protect her by shielding her with his own body, which Kate suspected he did. They didn't even have time to talk strategy before the door was pushed open, and Rick's body was tensing in preparation to protect her however he needed to.

"Someone call for a rescue?" Esposito's voice rang through the room, as he walked in. He noticed Beckett and Castle standing by the window, and started smirking when he noticed the writer's protective stance in front of Kate.

Ryan entered right behind his partner and smiled brightly. "Didn't make you wait too long, I hope?"

"You have the _worst_ timing," Kate grumbled under her breath as she stepped around Castle and walked out the door.

But everyone heard her, and as Ryan and Esposito looked confused, Rick smiled and headed their way. "We actually just saved ourselves," he said, indicating the open window. "But doors _are_ easier. Less fun, though." He concluded as he too left the room, leaving two confused detectives feeling decidedly underappreciated.

Ryan turned to his partner and in utter confusion, asked, "Was Castle wearing _lipstick_?"

**Author Thing: This was another story I had started a while ago, just never posted because I didn't really think there would be interest, apart from my own. It's a one-shot, I have no plans to continue this. (I wouldn't even know what to add, except gratuitous smut and I've already got Cop Out for that) Just thought I'd share. :-D**


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